IL GRANDE SILENZIO (THE GREAT SILENCE) Desolate Morricone # 56
I decided to revive this series in honor of our Morricone tribute concert which is coming together incredibly well for this sunday. Incidentally if anyone wants to attend please e-mail me. Many of the songs do not have sheet music available so this concert will be a one-of-a-kind.
A western taking place in the wintry snowbound mountains with mysterious characters of dubious motives all brought together in a claustrophobic environment. No this is not Quentin Tarantino's new film but Sergio Corbucci's from 1968 IL GRANDE SILENZIO.
The Great Silence (Italian: Il grande silenzio), also known as The Big Silence, is a Revisionist Spaghetti Western film directed and co-written by Sergio Corbucci. An Italian-French co-production, the film stars Jean-Louis Trintignant and Vonetta McGee (in her film début) alongside genre regulars Klaus Kinski, Frank Wolff, Luigi Pistilli and Mario Brega.
Conceived by Corbucci as a political allegory inspired by the recent deaths of Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Malcolm X, the film's plot takes place in Utah prior to the Great Blizzard of 1899. It pits a mute gunslinger (Trintignant), fighting in the defence of a group of outlaws and a vengeful young widow (McGee), against a group of ruthless bounty killers led by the psychotic "Loco" (Kinski) and the corrupt banker Henry Pollicut (Pistilli). Unlike most films of the genre, which were filmed in the Almería province of Spain to double for areas such as Texas and Mexico, The Great Silence was filmed on location primarily in the Italian Dolomites.
Distributed in Italy and various international markets by 20th Century Fox and its subsidiaries, The Great Silence only proved to be a modest financial success in the countries it played in. The film was withheld from release in the United States until 2004, when it was made available on DVD by Fantoma Films and Image Entertainment. Despite initially receiving controversy for its bleak and dark tone, the film's reputation grew, and it gained a cult following in the wake of its release. The Great Silence is now widely regarded by fans and authorities on Spaghetti Westerns as one of the greatest films of the genre, and is acknowledged as Corbucci's masterpiece. Praise has gone to the film's performances (especially those of Trintignant, Kinski, McGee, Wolff and Pistilli), its unconventional use of a mountainous, snow-bound environment, the soundtrack by Ennio Morricone, the ending, and its subversion of various conventions of the Western film genre. Morricone's score in particular was astonishingly original. With shimmering strings, xylophones, muted percussion and muted everything. It was the musical equivalent of the ice and snow and the bleakness of the environment:
He would use the same technique years later to capture the restless sea and tropical splendor in OCEANO (THE WIND BLOWS FREE) 1971.
If perhaps you don't know what I am referring to about this "series" here it is. I don't know how many of those YouTube clips have expired.
Henry, brilliant that at last you have revived the famous series. And a fitting choice. Great film, such a clever score, those icy strings...such a departure from what the maestro had done on all his previous westerns.
Henry, brilliant that at last you have revived the famous series. And a fitting choice. Great film, such a clever score, those icy strings...such a departure from what the maestro had done on all his previous westerns.
Thanks! I hope we get a scent of this on the HATEFUL 8 score. It would seem appropriate.
Thanks for posting this. I've never heard of this western, and I really liked the score sample you posted. Wish the western channel would show this movie sometime.
Thanks for posting this. I've never heard of this western, and I really liked the score sample you posted. Wish the western channel would show this movie sometime.
Joan: Sergios Corbucci's The Great Silence is on my top ten list of greatest spaghetti westerns. Morricone's score is beautiful. Both score and film are highly recommended. Sadly, the movie is only available as a non-anamorphic DVD from Fantoma, which I don't recommend. I'm holding out for an anamorphic blu-ray, hopefully someday.
Thanks for posting this. I've never heard of this western, and I really liked the score sample you posted. Wish the western channel would show this movie sometime.
Joan: Sergios Corbucci's The Great Silence is on my top ten list of greatest spaghetti westerns. Morricone's score is beautiful. Both score and film are highly recommended. Sadly, the movie is only available as a non-anamorphic DVD from Fantoma, which I don't recommend. I'm holding out for an anamorphic blu-ray, hopefully someday.
Considering the wretched video tapes I have watched just to see a movie, the DVD of THE GREAT SILENCE is more than adequate, IMO. The aspect ratio is 1.66, so the picture's size does shink too much in its 4:3 box, and a big screen makes up for it. The picture is muddy and the colors don't seem quite true (or is that just part of the moody atmosphere?), but the dubbing is decent and the low-key music stands out well. I'll certainly buy a Blu-Ray upgrade, should it happen, but the DVD will do me until that happens. I've never seen it on TV, though it is in Maltin's movie guide.
Morricone's music, the chilly snowscapes, and the bleak storyline transport the movie to a completely different universe from other Italian westerns.
hi this is a great movie and great score to boot, so pleased its getting airplay it truly does deserve this is a very cool list I remember buying the LP blind as I did with most of Ennio Morricone's scores as it was hard to get to see these movies in the early day's it was shown on TV in the UK many year's ago in the Moviedrome series on BBC 2 Alex cox did the series and did a great intro to it I must dig out the tape I did of it to see if its the same as the dvd
hi this is a great movie and great score to boot, so pleased its getting airplay it truly does deserve this is a very cool list I remember buying the LP blind as I did with most of Ennio Morricone's scores as it was hard to get to see these movies in the early day's it was shown on TV in the UK many year's ago in the Moviedrome series on BBC 2 Alex cox did the series and did a great intro to it I must dig out the tape I did of it to see if its the same as the dvd
Yep, remember that - I had it on video tape and even if I knew where the tape had got to three house moves later I've got nothing to play it on!
I recorded the alex cox moviedrome too, and i recall him talking about how various people involved with the film had begged Corbucci to change the ending - but he wouldnt. It waz a powerful ending. And That ending, Ennio's distinctive music, klaus kinski's ruthless character and the unusual snowy setting gave the film more gravitas than most italian westerns - As per what TomD said. And i finally learned how to pronounce Trintignant! Great poster image too that warhol-style pop frame of Kinski holding up the wanted poster of Silence's picture.
Always enjoy reading these Morricone write-ups, I'm a fan but he's written so much and my funds are usually limited. I remember watching this film decades ago on the Moviedrome series and still remember it quite vividly. That ending genuinely upset me at the time [I was young!] but it was probably right for the story.
I don't know if it'll be available in the UK at a more affordable price any time soon, but this is a step in the right direction.
This is also a subtle way of re-introducing FSMer Morricone's awe-inspiring series of threads devoted to less well-known Ennio scores, in case new members haven't discovered it for themselves as yet.
